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Published: February 9th 2006
Zorbing
We're off down the hill!Hello Amy here, Rob has handed over the 'golden keyboard' - sorry if this is less amusing than his entries.
This weekend was another bank holiday (Whaitangi Day for those who care) so off we went on another fairly long trip, this time to Rotorua in the centre of North Island. Got down there on friday and straight away noticed the smell. It is a geothermal area with loads of hot springs etc. and they smell of rotten eggs. Stayed in the Midway motel which also had a geothermal hot pool in the bathroom. How convient that the power of nature has managed to break hot pools through the earth's crust in every motel room in town!
Saturday - Went to Wai o Tapu "thermal wonderland". Loads of steaming craters, exploding Geysers, bubbling mud, American tourists(sadly not exploding) etc. Needless to say it smelt a bit nasty. In afternoon drove to Taupo, famous for the huge lake you see on maps of North Island and went to the Prawn Farm. They use the excess heat generated by the nearby geothermal power station to warm fresh water and cultivate prawns. Went on a tour then got to go prawn fishing in
Inside the zorb
Just after we landed, my contact lenses were all over the place and me watch fell off! their outdoor prawn ponds. I was very brave and after the first hour stopped shrieking when my line got tugged. Anyway I caught one! It was 13g. Rob failed to catch any but insists there were really huge ones that kept stealing the bait and getting away.... They say they will cook anything you catch in their cafe so we amused the staff by taking them our one prawn which was then presented on a little platter. Needless to say we had to order a bigger platter to go with it....
Sunday - Went Zorbing!! This involved arriving at a very surreal place where big white spheres were being lifted up a hill - looked like something from James Bond/The Prisoner. The idea is that they put you in these spheres and launch you back down the hill. We had a double hydro zorb - the two of us and a couple of buckets of water in a zorb. You just slide around this plastic hamster ball as it spins around you really fast, it feels like you should go upside down but never do. It was pretty amazing - bought the CD of the photos they took of
Rob being re-born!
Apparently our lives will change for the better after being re-born as Zorbonaughts. Seriously, it was quite a spiritual experience... us, hopefully I can add some to this. Apparently our lives will change for the better now we are "Zorbonaughts" - we shall see! After all that excitement decided we needed some relaxation so spent late afternoon at the Polynesian Spa. They have lots of hot mineral pools of varying temperatures alongside the lake. Was really good but once again a bit smelly!
Monday - Drove back via the Bay of Plenty, had lunch in a nice place called Turanga.
Thats about it, could say loads more but sure everyone is bored already! Laterz
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Tom
non-member comment
Bonkers!